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ROMNEY’S FIRST PUBLIC WORDS – L.A. Times, 1-col. lead, “Romney blames loss on Obama ‘gifts’: He says the president gave ‘a lot of stuff’ in his first term to young people and minorities to secure their votes,” by Maeve Reston: “Romney said Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was due in large part to his rival's strategy of giving ‘gifts’ during his first term to three groups that were pivotal … : African Americans, Latinos and young voters. ‘The Obama campaign was following the old playbook of giving a lot of stuff to groups that they hoped they could get to vote for them and be motivated to go out to the polls, specifically the African American community, the Hispanic community and young people,’ Romney told hundreds of donors during a telephone town hall Wednesday. ‘In each case they were very generous in what they gave to those groups.’ … Obama won several key states without large cities or minority populations. … The Los Angeles Times [and other reporters] listened in to the Wednesday call, but Romney did not appear to be aware of the presence of reporters. …

“‘With regards to African American voters, “Obamacare” was a huge plus — and was highly motivational to African American voters. You can imagine for somebody making $25-- or $30-- or $35,000 a year, being told you're now going to get free healthcare … worth, what, $10,000 a family, in perpetuity, I mean this is huge. Likewise with Hispanic voters, free healthcare was a big plus. … With regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for the children of illegals -- the so-called Dream Act kids -- was a huge plus for that voting group … The president's campaign … focused on giving targeted groups a big gift — so he made a big effort on small things. Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars. …

“‘I am very sorry that we didn't win … I know that you expected to win. We expected to win. … It was very close, but close doesn't count in this business.’ Romney said he and his team were discussing how to keep the campaign's donor group connected — perhaps with annual meetings or a monthly newsletter — ‘so we can stay informed and have influence on the direction of the party, and perhaps the selection of a future nominee.’ ‘Which, by the way,’ he added with a chuckle, ‘will not be me. … [F]rankly, … we're still so troubled by the past, it's hard to put together our plans for the future.’” http://lat.ms/T4qo9z

--S.E. CUPP, a conservative Republican, said on “Morning Joe” that Romney’s comments amounted to “blame the voters.”

--Louisiana Gov. “Bobby Jindal rejects Mitt Romney’s ‘gifts’ theory,” by James Hohmann and Jonathan Martin in Las Vegas: “Asked about … comments, the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association became visibly agitated. ‘No, I think that’s absolutely wrong,’ he said at a press conference that opened the RGA’s post-election meeting … ‘[W]e have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote. … I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that’s absolutely wrong. … I don’t think that represents where we are as a party and where we’re going as a party.” http://politi.co/UrxFwb

--PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE – Only five problems with Romney’s comments: 1) Republicans we talked to said this sounded like sour grapes, and were sad that Romney’s first comments were bitter and backward-looking. 2) His analysis is incomplete to inaccurate: Obama didn’t win Janesville, Iowa or New Hampshire because of gifts to minorities. 3) This mindset is at odds with the views of most other prominent Republicans, who say the party needs to do some heavy soul-searching and modernizing. Republicans tell us these comments convinced them that Romney just doesn’t get it, and that “47 percent” was no slip of the tongue. 4) Supporters would like Romney to sound like a leader, not a pundit. 5) Why alienate people now, when he could use his fame and platform to start or support some big philanthropic or civic effort?

BREAKING – “BP close to agreeing record oil spill fine,” by Reuters’ Chris Baltimore and David Ingram: “BP Plc is expected to pay a record U.S. criminal penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster which caused the worst offshore spill in the country's history … [A] plea deal with the Justice Department … may be announced as soon as [today]. London-based BP confirmed … it was in ‘advanced discussions’ with the Justice Department and U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission … Three sources … said BP would plead guilty in exchange for a waiver of future prosecution on the charges.”

KARL ROVE, WSJ A17, “The Lessons of Defeat for the GOP: Everything from the ground game to the date of the next convention needs to be re-examined”: “Republicans must rigorously re-examine their ‘72-hour’ ground game and reverse-engineer the Democratic get-out-the-vote effort in order to copy what works. … Republicans should also emulate the Democratic ‘50-state’ strategy by strengthening the ground game everywhere, not just in swing states. … Republicans will need to frame economic issues to better resonate with middle-class families. … One reason the GOP didn't do better with its pro-growth agenda was that Mr. Romney's character and record were undermined by early, relentless personal attacks that went largely unanswered. In a world of Twitter, YouTube and cable TV, the cliché that ‘if you're responding, you're losing’ is dead. … Republicans need not jettison their principles. But they must avoid appearing judgmental and callous on social issues.. …

“[T]he Republican National Committee should limit the number of debates and, by showing wisdom in picking debate moderators, limit the media's ability to depict the party as a fringe group. … Holding the convention in late August made sense when candidates relied on public financing for the general election. That will never happen again. … Future conventions should be held as early as late June. … Just as they did after the successful 2010 election, groups such as Crossroads will carefully review their activities to determine what was effective and what wasn't. But Democratic attacks aren't weakening the commitment of conservative Super PAC benefactors. They're in it for the long haul and don't take direction from the left. Their attitude is: The fight goes on, beat 'em next time..” Mr. Rove, a former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, helped organize the political action committee American Crossroads.

TOP STORY – “Obama unveils second term prototype,” by AFP’s Stephen Collinson: “Barack Obama wheeled out a lean and punchy prototype for his second-term presidency … During his first four years, Obama … often came across as an almost passive observer of his own presidency. Not so Wednesday as the president ditched his former professorial pose to hit the same point over and over again. ‘I've got one mandate. I've got a mandate to help middle-class families and families that are working hard to try to get into the middle class,’ Obama said, in front of a flowing golden curtain in the East Room of the White House. …

“This was not the drained figure who trudged through the last year before putting in a listless convention speech and sleepwalking to disaster in his first debate against Republican foe Mitt Romney. Since that debacle in Denver, Obama has pioneered a more concise style of argument, seeking to express focus and resolve. … [T]he new Obama took care to lower expectations on one huge issue -- global warming, following predictions he would take another shot at passing comprehensive legislation limiting carbon emissions.”

--OVERHEARD last night, from a well-wired Republican: “You know how you can tell he has a mandate? He didn’t brag about having one.”

--SHOT – President Obama, yesterday: “I don’t presume that because I won an election that everybody suddenly agrees with me on everything. I’m more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second terms. We are very cautious about that. On the other hand, I didn’t get reelected just to bask in reelection. I got elected to do work on behalf of American families and small businesses all across the country who are still recovering from a really bad recession, but are hopeful about the future.”

--CHASER – President George W. Bush, two mornings after his reelection: “I earned CAPITAL in the campaign -- political capital -- and now I intend to spend it.”

TIME COVER – “THE PETRAEUS AFFAIR: How his fall exposes a system failure at the highest levels of national security,” by Barton Gellman: At the Aspen Security Forum in July, where she went running with Lance Armstrong, Paula Broadwell told a small group over drinks one evening “that she had been arguing with her mentor [Petraeus] about the direction of her career. Republican moneymen, she said, had approached her about a Senate run in North Carolina. She was tempted. Petraeus, she said in an irritated tone, rejected the idea out of hand. What was her position, he asked, on abortion? Climate change? Gun control? Gay marriage? Tax cuts? Social Security vouchers? Her answers, he told her, would not fit either party, and she should not sell herself out. …

“Over the weekend, Petraeus called mentor Gen. Jack Keane and told him, ‘I really screwed up.’ He told Peter Mansoor, one of his old brain-trust colonels, ‘This is my fault, and I’m devastated by the pain and suffering that I’ve caused.’ He said that ‘what he did was a morally reprehensible action.’ Friends say he is pondering how best to take responsibility in a fuller, more public, way. … Intelligence Committee members in Congress are furious at having been kept in the dark, and the furor has strained relations between lawmakers and the White House at the very moment voters want to see them sit down together to get something done. The U.S.’s entire security apparatus seems rattled.”

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Anne Kornblut and Jon Cohen, both of the WashPost, email: “We are thrilled to welcome Audrey Rose, born [Monday] at 2:56 p.m. in Washington, D.C. She has a fiery mass of red hair. Arlo is clueless, but in intensive training for big-brothering. Anne is great. We are both happy the baby arrived post-election.”

**A message from The Campaign to Fix The Debt: Join The Campaign to Fix The Debt in urging Congress and the White House to leave partisanship at the door and come together to find a fiscally responsible solution to the Fiscal Cliff and our nation’s rising debt. Sign the petition at www.fixthedebt.org. **

DRIVING THE DAY – A White House official: “President Obama will travel to New York to tour Hurricane Sandy damage and meet with local officials, first responders, FEMA staff and families recovering from the storm. His visit will include an aerial tour of storm damage where he will be joined by Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Secretary Janet Napolitano and Secretary Shaun Donovan, a visit to a local FEMA Disaster Recovery Center and a walking tour of an impacted neighborhood. New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand will travel with the President aboard Air Force One.”

--At 4:35 p.m., “the President will host cast and crew members of the film Lincoln for a screening at the White House. This screening is closed press.”

--Back at the ranch, “the White House will continue its outreach to outside groups to discuss the need to urge Congress to extend the middle class tax cuts and find a balanced solution to reduce the deficit and move our economy forward. … Vice President Biden will meet with mayors from cities across the country on the need to get Congress to act to ensure that taxes don’t go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of businesses at the end of the year. The list of expected mayors are below: Michael Nutter of Philadelphia … Scott Smith of Mesa, AZ … Joseph P. Riley, Jr. of Charleston, SC … Don Plusquellic of Akron … Michael Hancock of Denver … Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore … Stephen Benjamin of Columbia, SC … Patrick Henry Hays of North Little Rock, AR … Michael Bissonnette of Chicopee, MA … Joseph McElveen of Sumter, SC … Setti Warren of Newton, MA … Paul Soglin of Madison, WI … Alvin Brown of Jacksonville, FL … R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis.”

--“Also [today], Senior Administration officials will meet with members of Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, a group of individuals who support an approach that asks the very wealthiest individuals to pay more in taxes. The meeting will take place at 2:15 pm at the White House.”

THE 113TH CONGRESS – “Why Pelosi stayed,” by David Rogers: “The first female House speaker, Nancy Pelosi came to power just two years before the nation elected its first black president. Together, they … reshaped the American health care system — a landmark law that has since driven two national elections, cost her dearly, but still stands. And now, with President Obama firmly ensconced for another four years, you thought this mayor’s daughter from Baltimore would just walk away? … Pelosi’s decision is not without worries for her party, freezing in place a top hierarchy of Democratic leaders … and lacking a strong, natural communicator … Pelosi is foremost a party builder, and by staying, does she risk smothering the very initiative she wants to foster in her brood? She joked … that if she were to walk away, she would leave only men at the table meeting with Obama. True enough, but her own rise began when men, younger than her 72 years today, left the leadership, thereby creating an opening. …

“House Republicans professed delight with Pelosi staying, calculating that she is easier to isolate than her next-in-command, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer. But hours later, the GOP … elevated Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) to be conference chair — thereby ensuring Speaker Boehner will have at least one female face in his own leadership. And Pelosi’s allies argued that if she had stepped aside, Republicans would have been quick to claim they had driven her out. … Hoyer’s more moderate image might have been an asset for the White House in reaching a year-end deal with House Republicans … But Pelosi’s credibility with the left — and skills as a former whip — could be even more important to the president when it comes to selling whatever compromise is finally reached.” http://politi.co/XI0xaj

GOP REBOOT:

--PRIEBUS AFTER-ACTION -- John Bresnahan and Manu Raju: “Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus made a special presentation to Senate Republicans on Wednesday in a closed-door lunch just off the Senate floor. Priebus pointed out that nearly three in 10 voters will be minorities by 2016 — up from 26 percent this year — and that Obama trounced Romney among African-American, Asian and Latinos, as well as younger voters. ‘Late deciders’ also backed Obama by a solid margin. … Priebus told Senate Republicans that the RNC would be conducting ‘a deep dive into what worked [and] what didn’t.’ That effort includes interviewing state party chairmen, donors and heads of outside groups; running focus groups on the GOP’s message; initiating ‘reviews of our ground game, data resources, and digital program,’ and setting up a special team to analyze what the Obama team did well.”

--“Cornyn on Senate races: GOP bungled it,” by John Bresnahan and Manu Raju: “Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the incoming Republican whip who led his party’s Senate campaign efforts this year, candidly acknowledged the GOP bungled a prime opportunity to take control of the chamber through a combination of poor polling, poor candidates and a poor job of selling its message. While claiming Democrats ‘got lucky’ in gaining two Senate seats, the Texas Republican admitted his party had an image deficiency with women, minorities and disaffected voters — one that needs to be immediately addressed before suffering the consequences in the next election cycle. During an interview in his Senate hideaway in the basement of the Capitol, Cornyn told POLITICO that the 2012 elections exposed that the GOP had a ‘brand problem’ and a ‘tactical problem.’ ‘How can we convey what I believe is the true image, that Republicans actually do care about people of all races, ethnicities, and classes in America?’ …

“Cornyn, tapped by his Republican colleagues Wednesday as the new minority whip (a promotion that makes him No. 2 to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate GOP hierarchy), chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the last two cycles. And as he seeks a third Senate term in 2014, Cornyn will be running at a time when brutal GOP primaries have contributed greatly to the Republicans’ Senate struggles; Cornyn expects both he and McConnell will face primary challengers in 2014. …

“Cornyn said the party is reassessing its approach to Senate primaries, deciding whether to continue the hands-off approach GOP leaders employed in primaries this year, or whether to select their preferred candidates in the contested intraparty fights, a tactic that generated sharp blowback from the GOP base in 2010. … ‘I told my colleagues today that I had a pollster years ago who said if they could only ask one question in a poll, it would be, “Does John Cornyn care about people like you?” If people say “no,” then you don’t have a chance. If they say “yes,” then you got a shot.’” http://politi.co/XHWQl0

MORNING GLORIES: covering the network morning shows -- “Don Nash named E.P. of ‘Today’” – NBC release: “Veteran ‘Today’ show Senior Broadcast Producer Don Nash has been promoted to Executive Producer of the iconic morning show. The announcement was made today by Steve Capus, President, NBC News. Effective December 1, Nash succeeds former ‘Today’ Executive Producer Jim Bell, who has been appointed Executive Producer of NBCUniversal’s Olympic Coverage. As Executive Producer, Nash will be responsible for all four hours of ‘Today’ … Nash will report to Alexandra Wallace, who has been appointed Executive in Charge of the ‘Today’ show. … Wallace will continue to report to Capus.

“Said Capus: ‘Don Nash deserves to be at the helm of “Today.” He is a beloved member of the Today family who brings vision, commitment and a deep familiarity to all aspects of the broadcast. … I also want to thank and congratulate Jim Bell for seven years of leadership at ‘Today.’ We are grateful for his many contributions to the show and have no doubt he will have continued success in his new role as executive producer of the company’s Olympic coverage.” ‘ … A 23-year veteran of ‘Today,’ Nash previously served as the show’s senior broadcast producer, where for the past seven years he orchestrated the live broadcast from the control room each morning and played an integral role in day-to-day programming. … Nash began his career at NBC in 1989 as a Page in Burbank … Nash graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Gaylen and their two daughters, Cassidy and Alice.”

MEDIAWATCH – “AP State News Reports: Calling a total of 4,653 races” – AP release: “Managing Editor for State News, Financial News and Global Training Kristin Gazlay: … ‘AP director of race calls David Pace and his team of 37 callers and 11 election analysts called a total of 4,653 races on election night and the next day … accuracy rate of 99.9 percent. Pace began pulling together his team more than a year ago, with training beginning in earnest before the primary races … This year held many extra challenges, including a large number of first-time callers and less-detailed exit polling information in some states. Race callers and analysts must do in-depth reporting and research, making sure they know their races, plus the state's voting history, laws and elections personnel.” http://bit.ly/UrcQB5

SPORTS BLINK: RG3 “Among 2012 Team-Elected Captains,” by Redskins.com Lead Writer Brian Tinsman: “At the Redskins bye week, head coach Mike Shanahan gave the team the option to add more captains to a group that already included linebacker London Fletcher, offensive tackle Trent Williams and special teams ace Lorenzo Alexander. After a team vote, three more players have been given captain status: defensive end Stephen Bowen, nose tackle Barry Cofield and rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.”

--“Dickey, Price win Cy Young Awards: R.A. Dickey easily won the 2012 NL Cy Young Award and David Price edged 2011 winner Justin Verlander in the AL,” by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo: “The Baseball Writers' Association of America on Wednesday named [R.A.] Dickey [of the Mets, age 38] the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, lifting him over finalists Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals. Dickey, who shares his agent and hometown with American League winner David Price [Tampa Bay Rays left-hander], is the first knuckleballer to win the award.”

**A message from The Campaign to Fix The Debt: Our national debt is getting in the way of America investing in and excelling at many of the things that make us great. That’s why The Campaign to Fix The Debt is urging Congress and the White House to leave partisanship at the door and come together to find a fiscally responsible solution to avoid both the year-end Fiscal Cliff and our nation’s ever-rising debt. Sign the Citizens' Petition to Fix the Debt and demand a common sense solution to prevent disaster and renew America's economic strength. Visit www.fixthedebt.org. **